Bill Mazeroski's 1960 World Series home run
Leading off the bottom of ninth, in a 9–9 tie and with the count one ball, zero strikes, Mazeroski hit a line drive toward deep left field that cleared the wall for a solo home run.
[1] Mazeroski homered off of New York Yankees pitcher Ralph Terry to end the Series, giving the Pirates a 10–9 win and their first championship since 1925.
The second and most recent World Series-winning walk-off homer was hit by Joe Carter for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1993, although it occurred in Game 6.
On the heels of a subpar season for Mazeroski and his fourth-place team, the 1960 campaign exceeded the wildest dreams of Pittsburgh sports fans.
The team was rewarded with a trip to the 1960 World Series, where the second baseman forged his legacy against the New York Yankees with a pair of game-winning home runs.
The 1960 Yankees won the AL pennant for the 10th time in 12 years under Casey Stengel, and outscored the Pirates 55–27 in the seven World Series games.
[5][6] In a portent of things to come, Bill Mazeroski's two-run 5th-inning home run off Jim Coates was the difference as Pittsburgh beat the Yankees 6–4 in its first World Series win since 1925.
In Game 2, Mickey Mantle hit two home runs in a Yankees 16–3 victory at Forbes Field, evening the World Series.
Roy Face was called on once more for another hitless effort to preserve a 5–2 win over the Yankees and 3–2 World Series lead for the surprising Pirates.
During the final game of the 1960 World Series, Yankees shortstop Tony Kubek was struck in the neck with a ball that bounced off the hard dirt surface.
One of the greatest games in baseball history got wilder yet in the top of the ninth inning, when the Yankees plated two runs to forge a 9-9 deadlock.
It seemed the second baseman had forgotten that he was to lead off the bottom half of the inning, and it wasn't until first base coach Lenny Levy reminded him that he hurriedly picked up a bat.
At precisely 3:36 p.m. local time, on a 1-0 count, Mazeroski slammed Terry's high fastball just to the left of the 406-foot marker in distant left-center field.
... and Forbes Field ... is an insane asylum!In 1985, Thompson's Ditmar-Terry flub became a commercial hit, featured as an audio-over in a nostalgia-immersed Budweiser TV ad during that year's World Series.
A libel lawsuit subsequently filed[13] by Ditmar against Anheuser-Busch and its advertising agency for the commercial was ultimately rejected by a United States District Court.
The portion of the left field wall over which Bill Mazeroski hit his walk-off home run to end the 1960 World Series, between the scoreboard and the "406 FT" sign, no longer stands at its original location.
[21] However, its location has been altered; author John McCollister wrote, "Had architects placed home plate in its precise spot about half of the Pirates fans could not view it.
"[22] However, the original location of the home plate has been more recently determined by others to be approximately 81 feet (25 m) away from its current display, just inside the GSPIA/Economics Library, and not in a restroom as has been popularly believed.
[23] A ceremony is held each October 13 at the outfield wall in Oakland to listen to a taped broadcast of the final game of the 1960 World Series.
[17][24][25] The tradition was started by Squirrel Hill resident Saul Finkelstein, who at 1:05 pm on October 13, 1985, sat alone at the base of the flagpole and listened to the NBC radio broadcast of Chuck Thompson and Jack Quinlan.
[28] In September 2010, a statue of Mazeroski was unveiled outside PNC Park, depicting his legendary home run celebration — a runner pose with both arms extended, ball cap in right hand.
